


Grasping in the dark /Blinded by your light

by galforce (boxofwonder)



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Dorothea hits on a handsome new knight at the monastery, F/F, Ingrid gets a haircut, No story spoilers, every day i suffer, every time i must tag this for them, mutual unrequited pining, shenanigans ensue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21675463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boxofwonder/pseuds/galforce
Summary: There stood a dashing young knight by the pier, and Dorothea could not help but shiver seeing him there - a lonely figure staring out at the water, stolen from a storybook.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Ingrid Brandl Galatea
Comments: 6
Kudos: 98





	Grasping in the dark /Blinded by your light

**Author's Note:**

> Inspiration taken from fanart by [@homusatan](https://twitter.com/homusatan) on twitter. Linked in the endnotes!
> 
> I came, I saw, I had to write.

There stood a dashing young knight by the pier, and Dorothea could not help but shiver seeing him there, a lonely figure staring out at the water, stolen from a storybook.

A golden touch of hair, armor molded to a powerful body, a fairytale prince who mayhaps could be the answer to Dorothea’s desperate pleas. Someone who would not just want her for her body and a little one-time adventure. Someone who would listen to her, or at the very least not only talk about himself. Someone sweet and kind, someone who would care for her enough to call her out on her mistakes, too, and help her become all she could be. Someone … she could stand spending a whole lifetime with.

Exhaling, she reached up to smooth her hair, then reconsidered and mussed it, then panicked but found without a mirror her best chance was to leave it alone.

Instead, she looked at the knight’s frame again to gain some bravery, though all she felt looking at his back was that he seemed ... achingly familiar. Perhaps it was the loneliness, seemingly wrapped around him like a tattered cloak, too thin and worn to do anything but invite the cold. Did she not know the harsh winter it brought about in a heart?

Dorothea had not flirted with anyone, let alone asked for a date in a while now. Perhaps it was the rejections of late, each man letting her down worse, disappointing her and making her wonder if the search was even worth it at all. But this knight … he made her want to put herself out there, because if she did not, surely that would be a mistake. Dorothea _needed_ to know his name. If only she had a fishing rod with her to find an excuse to join him without seeming too desperate for his company!

But perhaps it was time for a little truth - being straightforward and honest about her intentions, and this pull she felt towards him … 

What kind of voice such a man had, she wondered … hopefully he was not just passing through. If there was even an inkling of a chance to know him better, she had to grasp it!

With a deep breath, she approached, her feet falling lightly upon the wood. Still, ever vigilant, the knight tensed in recognition of her presence. 

“Isn’t it lonely, all the way out here, with no one for company?” Dorothea asked softly. She clasped her hands in front of herself. “Though, I tend to seek solitude myself … but perhaps together, we might be less lonely.”

“Dorothea.” Her knight turned, and Dorothea’s mouth fell open. Her world tilted on its axis, revealing … Ingrid, her hair cropped short, making her features look sharper, more striking.

The soft locks playing upon her cheeks had made her look not just more girlish, but much younger, while this new cut made her look more severe. Even her eyes seemed brighter, sharper. She was downright breathtaking. 

Dorothea wet her lips, her heart still pounding wildly. 

“I have to admit I wanted to be alone,” Ingrid said, shyness overcoming her suddenly. She ran a hand through her hair self-consciously, shoulders hunching as if trying to make herself smaller when really she should stand proud and tall. “But if it is your company, then I do not mind.”

Dorothea warmed, at the words and the sight of Ingrid still. She had mistaken her for someone entirely else! And the worst of it was, the truth could not be clearer. The familiarity of this knight and her pull to them, the racing of her heart that would not calm and her cheeks prickling with heat. Dorothea still she wished to win Ingrid’s heart. Win the heart of a knight she knew to trust, knew would always be honest and true. “You look breathtaking,” she said, voice almost breaking as she stepped closer. She was so entranced by the sight of her that her hand lifted, and only then did Dorothea get a hold of herself, shying away from touch. “M-may I?”

“Oh?” Ingrid’s cheeks flushed. Her hair was so short that the tips of her ears were visible now, and the lovely touch of pink extended to them. “I - yes! Certainly …”

Dorothea exhaled softly, running her fingertips along Ingrid’s scalp, feeling the freshly cut strands. Soft, wonderful. “It suits you so much, I lack the words,” she confessed. “In fact I thought you an entirely different person …”

“O-oh! That …” Ingrid shifted from one foot to the other. “I don’t know what to say to that, honestly.”

Smiling, Dorothea withdrew her hand. “That is quite alright. Maybe ‘thank you’!” 

Or _‘Go out with me, Dorothea, for you are the only one I can think of’._

_‘’Let me be your knight, ignore my father’s wishes, and love you for all my life’._

Somehow, the impossibility of these things made Dorothea’s eyes prick, but she still kept her smile. She would not risk Ingrid worrying Dorothea’s foolish mood was due to the new style she still did not seem fully comfortable with. Ingrid _had_ to know how much this suited her, made her all the more radiant. 

“Thank you,” Ingrid said softly, her hand lifting up as if to brush a lock of hair behind her ear, and then a startled look as she realised those days were over, morphing into a smile that made Dorothea’s knees weak. “I am glad you like it … I was afraid to be mocked …”

“You are so striking I came here to ask you to dinner,” Dorothea said truthfully, with a half-shrug, as if it wasn’t a big deal. Downplaying it as best as she could. “That is not what I would call mocking.”

“Wait! So when you said we’d be less alone together, that was a lie?!” Ingrid put her hands on her hips, eyes basically conjuring Thoron.

Dorothea tried not to think of kissing her. “It was the full truth! Dinner or just a chat at the pier, we’d be less lonely! Anyways, you have made it abundantly clear there is no interest - I just wanted you to know there is no way a haircut so dashing would be mocked!”

“I-is that so …” Ingrid lowered her eyes. “I will never understand the likes of you and Sylvain, flitting from person to person, always seeking someone new -”

“Don’t put it like that!” Dorothea found herself saying sharply, fists clenching. It was far too harsh, but it _hurt._ It did. Especially after the frustration of late. “I want to find love, I _do,_ and if I could stop dating around I would be the happiest person! It’s not my fault it never works out, it’s not my fault I keep getting left behind, or maybe it is, and maybe it is my fault I fall for people like you who don’t want me, but I -” She gulped for breath, skin prickling. She had said too much, given away too much. But she couldn’t let it stand that way. “- I try, Ingrid. So don’t you dare say that in that tone of voice, like you are judging me. I … need you to be my friend, or one of these days, my heart will truly break.”

She folded her arms in front of her chest, trying to shield her vulnerable heart. Not that it had ever really worked. “Anyways, I love your hair. If you’ll excuse me -” She turned on her heel, ready to go, when a calloused palm on her elbow stopped her. 

“Dorothea?” Ingrid asked softly. 

She took a deep breath. Why did Dorothea feel like crying so much, at that tone of Ingrid’s voice? “Yes?”

“I’m sorry.” 

At least that made it ache a little less. Dorothea loved Ingrid fiercely as a friend as well, so hearing such a low opinion of herself from her friend’s lips … “Thank you,” she said, heartfelt. “I … appreciate it. I accept your apology.”

A long pause, with the silence only filled by the water lapping at the wooden planks of the pier.

Then: “Did you mean it?” Ingrid asked, her voice quiet. 

“Mean what? That I am seeking love?” Why did people doubt it when she made it so abundantly clear? “Yeah. I know everyone thinks it’s all about money, but while I want a roof over my head and never to be afraid of starving again, more than that I want to be loved until I grey, when I am so wrinkled no one in the world would look upon me twice, my singing voice only croaking … I want someone who’ll find me beautiful even then.” 

“I would,” Ingrid said. It struck Dorothea to the core. “Th-there is no way a woman like you wouldn’t be breathtaking no matter your age!” she hurriedly added, perhaps to make it less romantic. 

Dorothea sighed. Why did she still insist on hoping, scrambling for the crumbs Ingrid tossed her like she was a pigeon? Ingrid had already told her off. Chasing her would make Dorothea no better than the men who used to harass her at the opera. “Thank you, I really appreciate it. I just hope I’ll find a partner who’ll think the same and stay by my side forever …”

“Yeah,” Ingrid said, voice tight. She squeezed Dorothea’s elbow. “I really hope so, too.”

Of course Ingrid did. They _were_ friends, and that should have been enough.

But even though each day wasted more time, brought Dorothea closer to inevitable doom, to life back on the streets when her face and voice would no longer be enough, Dorothea already knew she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to pretend being interested in anyone else. Not for a long time. Not when Ingrid was everything she wanted.

“I’ll have to study now,” Dorothea said, just to escape that touch, and the urge to spin around and hug Ingrid tightly, tightly, smell her reassuring scent of blue skies and hay and the scented oil used to polish weapons. It was such a free-spirited scent, somehow, clear and bright and perfectly suited for her Ingrid. “But it really does suit you, Ingrid. You look utterly striking, and if anyone would mock you, I will send a meteor after them for their jealousy.”

She stepped away, only turning when she was safely out of range to risk hugging, because if she hugged Ingrid she might kiss her - “So no worries, my valiant knight, okay?” she said with a wink. 

“Yeah,” Ingrid said, trying for a smile, but it did not quite reach her eyes. Somehow, she looked all the more lost than before. “I’ll rest assured then.”

Dorothea would only make it worse, were she to stay. Because she was a fool, and would remain a fool.

“You’d better do!” Dorothea said, making her voice as bright as she could. “Don’t think just because you are my knight in shining armour I won’t protect you in turn!” She spun on her heel, and briskly walked away, heart in disarray. 

“Oh, Dorothea,” she whispered to herself when enough distance lay between Ingrid and her. “You are a foolish woman, and you will pay the price for it.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm honestly depriving myself. Everything I write for them is so chockful of tension and misunderstandings and Ingrid is trapped under 5487983475 layers of repression while Dorothea is like 'yup I'm rejected guess I'll die' NO!!!! NO STOP THAT!!! JUST KISS!!!! Next thing with them I write they'll be friggin smooching I swear that by my _cats_
> 
> Most importantly: [Here](https://twitter.com/homusatan/status/1200063563055980544) is the art of Ingrid's butch look that shook me to my core
> 
> Oh and if you enjoy talking about these ladies, or watching writers lose their shit, come find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/galfforce)! (Please be warned it's an 18+ account though!)


End file.
